PRAIRIE DU SAC - The Monroe boys soccer team played about 28 minutes with one man down and Sauk Prairie capitalized, scoring five second-half goals for a comeback 5-1 win over Monroe Saturday.
Monroe senior Niven Tomasiewicz scored a goal at 41 minutes, 10 seconds to give the Cheesemakers a 1-0 lead at the half. Monroe senior Mohammad Assaf received a red card for what a ref ruled was intentionally sticking his hand out to stop a goal. He was ejected and due to the red card, Assaf will have to sit out the Cheesemakers' first Badger South Conference game at Monona Grove Tuesday.
The Eagles scored a goal on the penalty kick and that sparked their second-half surge with Monroe playing one player short.
"Sauk Prairie is a good team and they were ranked in Division 2 in the preseason," Monroe coach Tony Vasquez said. "We can't afford to play them short-handed. It was frustrating because in the first half Sauk was frustrated because they thought they would have an easier game. We left them off the hook. We are not good enough to make mistakes and beat these good teams. I don't think we have played a full 90 minutes yet. We have the ability to do it."
Monroe junior Atticus Pond had 15 saves. With the loss, Monroe drops to 4-4-1.
"It (red card) allowed them to posses the ball and keep taking shots," Vasquez said. "Eventually, they started going in for them. Defense and goalie are the two hardest positions. They just overwhelmed us."
Monroe senior Niven Tomasiewicz scored a goal at 41 minutes, 10 seconds to give the Cheesemakers a 1-0 lead at the half. Monroe senior Mohammad Assaf received a red card for what a ref ruled was intentionally sticking his hand out to stop a goal. He was ejected and due to the red card, Assaf will have to sit out the Cheesemakers' first Badger South Conference game at Monona Grove Tuesday.
The Eagles scored a goal on the penalty kick and that sparked their second-half surge with Monroe playing one player short.
"Sauk Prairie is a good team and they were ranked in Division 2 in the preseason," Monroe coach Tony Vasquez said. "We can't afford to play them short-handed. It was frustrating because in the first half Sauk was frustrated because they thought they would have an easier game. We left them off the hook. We are not good enough to make mistakes and beat these good teams. I don't think we have played a full 90 minutes yet. We have the ability to do it."
Monroe junior Atticus Pond had 15 saves. With the loss, Monroe drops to 4-4-1.
"It (red card) allowed them to posses the ball and keep taking shots," Vasquez said. "Eventually, they started going in for them. Defense and goalie are the two hardest positions. They just overwhelmed us."
